I don't know about you, but it doesn't much feel like Easter. It almost seems like the Easter week has come too early this year.
But even as I write that I realise that is a contradiction in terms. Why so? Well, no celebration that commemorates the passing and resurrection of Christ can ever come early.
Perhaps what I ought to say is that I am acquainted with celebrating Easter during April. So in the spirit of celebration I say to you Joyeaux Pacques - I sure hope I got that right. Just thought I'd show off something I learnt from my Francophone friend yesterday...!
Saturday, 22 March 2008
Monday, 3 March 2008
The World's Untold Stories Revealed
I’ve been mulling over the issue of interdependence and obligation over the past few weeks and a further insight into the necessity of interdependence and obligation came over the weekend. The girl is deeep....
One of the ways I like to unwind Saturdays, second best to running in the mountains early in the morning, is viewing at least one of those noteworthy weekend documentaries on BBC World and CNN.
This weekend it was The World’s Untold Stories on CNN and Bride Trafficking in China on BBC World.
The World’s Untold Stories indeed
Somewhere in the Christian Scriptures it reads that poverty is a curse of the law, and the stories told on CNN about the girl-child trafficking in Nigeria, reminded me all the more poignantly that poverty of every kind is indeed the root of all evil. The documentaries also sharply reminded me of the necessity to reach out to our communities and to open our eyes and ears to the injustice prowling around us day in, day out.
There you had featured the story of illiterate female Nigerian teenagers trafficked into Europe as sex slaves. For some of these teenagers, their impoverished families had borrowed and paid for "travel documents" to allow their children legitimate entry into Europe. Legitimate entry to work in menial jobs, get paid and one day return home economically and socially better off - or so they thought. Sadly, some of the parents knew that their daughters were being sold to the sex trade but the depth of their poverty had numbed them of every ability and conscious to think and act with decency and integrity.
Harrowing tales. Rape. Psychosis. Disease. Violent physical abuse. And all that they and their parents had wanted them to do was to “travel”.
China's Bachelor Society
China’s Bride Traffickers had a different but still yet sinister motive. The government policy of one child families, and the preference of families to birth a boy-child, has left China, decades on, with a lot, and I mean a lot, of bachelors. If I remember correctly I think the ratio of men to women is 1:8. And some people are taking desperate measures. Young women are desperately sought after for marriage, and many are being kidnapped for and forced into marriage.
One particular young woman had been kidnapped from her family, trafficked and sold as a bride for one such of China's bachelor. Traumatized, she attempted suicide by drinking pesticide. Mental anguish followed.
Her story at least has a happier ending. A benevolent humanitarian committed to fight this of China’s growing evil in any small way heard of the young lady’s plight from her family, located her years later, and with the support of the police, and rescued her from those that had bought her into bride captivity.
Humanity's call
One thing that struck me from both documentaries was that neither of the two ‘humanitarians’ who had given of themselves to relieve these women from their most difficult and horrible plight, were particular people of faith. They were just responding to the call of humanity.
And as I laid there on the sofa mulling over what I had watched on my television, I found myself convinced that life demands much, much more of us than working, raising a family and chasing fantasies. I found myself convinced that in addition to these each and everyone of us had a calling to impact our generation in any and every small way.
And then I remembered St.Paul’s cry to us all for interdependence and obligation.
One of the ways I like to unwind Saturdays, second best to running in the mountains early in the morning, is viewing at least one of those noteworthy weekend documentaries on BBC World and CNN.
This weekend it was The World’s Untold Stories on CNN and Bride Trafficking in China on BBC World.
The World’s Untold Stories indeed
Somewhere in the Christian Scriptures it reads that poverty is a curse of the law, and the stories told on CNN about the girl-child trafficking in Nigeria, reminded me all the more poignantly that poverty of every kind is indeed the root of all evil. The documentaries also sharply reminded me of the necessity to reach out to our communities and to open our eyes and ears to the injustice prowling around us day in, day out.
There you had featured the story of illiterate female Nigerian teenagers trafficked into Europe as sex slaves. For some of these teenagers, their impoverished families had borrowed and paid for "travel documents" to allow their children legitimate entry into Europe. Legitimate entry to work in menial jobs, get paid and one day return home economically and socially better off - or so they thought. Sadly, some of the parents knew that their daughters were being sold to the sex trade but the depth of their poverty had numbed them of every ability and conscious to think and act with decency and integrity.
Harrowing tales. Rape. Psychosis. Disease. Violent physical abuse. And all that they and their parents had wanted them to do was to “travel”.
China's Bachelor Society
China’s Bride Traffickers had a different but still yet sinister motive. The government policy of one child families, and the preference of families to birth a boy-child, has left China, decades on, with a lot, and I mean a lot, of bachelors. If I remember correctly I think the ratio of men to women is 1:8. And some people are taking desperate measures. Young women are desperately sought after for marriage, and many are being kidnapped for and forced into marriage.
One particular young woman had been kidnapped from her family, trafficked and sold as a bride for one such of China's bachelor. Traumatized, she attempted suicide by drinking pesticide. Mental anguish followed.
Her story at least has a happier ending. A benevolent humanitarian committed to fight this of China’s growing evil in any small way heard of the young lady’s plight from her family, located her years later, and with the support of the police, and rescued her from those that had bought her into bride captivity.
Humanity's call
One thing that struck me from both documentaries was that neither of the two ‘humanitarians’ who had given of themselves to relieve these women from their most difficult and horrible plight, were particular people of faith. They were just responding to the call of humanity.
And as I laid there on the sofa mulling over what I had watched on my television, I found myself convinced that life demands much, much more of us than working, raising a family and chasing fantasies. I found myself convinced that in addition to these each and everyone of us had a calling to impact our generation in any and every small way.
And then I remembered St.Paul’s cry to us all for interdependence and obligation.
Monday, 18 February 2008
The Audacity of Faith...and Love
There’s something absolutely, positively inspirational about Eugene Peterson’s The Message translation of the Christian Scriptures. I so often enjoy moments of total quiet delight when I get into The Word as translated in contemporary language by Professor Peterson.
So there I was, expectantly and gleefully reading the book of Romans. And there, even in the first few verses, was poignant and cheering instruction. In verse thirteen of chapter one St Paul writes to the Romans: Please don’t misinterpret my failure to visit you, friends. You have no idea how many times I’ve made plans for Rome. I’ve been determined to get some personal enjoyment out of God’s work among you, as I have in so many other non-Jewish towns and communities.
Whoever said the Scriptural life had to be devoid of enjoyment, dull and dreary, even if devout?
Taking Pleasure in The Walk
If St. Paul was determined to get some personal enjoyment out of doing God’s work even as a leader and teacher, you’d better make sure you do the same in this very twenty-first century.
I have often joked with friends that God Himself is going to hold some of us accountable for the good times and exposure He had empowered us to enjoy (financially or geographically for instance –imagine shunning a trip to Mauritius because the hotel may be jam packed with tourists in bathing suits?) but which we omitted to take hold of in the name of religion.
Isn’t that the same reason why some can go to war in the name of religion?
I overheard someone protest the other day that there are no ‘Christian’ places to socialize and hang out in this city. And I thought to myself: “Yes, and there are no Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish places to socialize and hang out.”
Short of hibernating in an igloo or in make-believe world, interdependence is one thing that is guaranteed on Planet Earth. We’ve grown so accustomed to limiting our options of socializing (living, in fact) to only those of the same faith – as if there was a guarantee that those of the same faith would always hold dear the same Scriptural and social values as you hold dear.
Tolerance and Interdependence
St Paul buttresses this point in the same chapter verses fourteen and fifteen when he wrote: “Everyone I meet – it matters little whether they’re mannered or rude, smart or simple – deepens my sense of interdependence and obligation.” That spoke volumes to me – I could be as much in need of the company of my simple Christian friend, as I am of the company and friendship of a smart Jewish friend. And, I could, and should even legitimately choose to socialize with the latter.
The cry of humanity - interdependence and obligation
So there I was, expectantly and gleefully reading the book of Romans. And there, even in the first few verses, was poignant and cheering instruction. In verse thirteen of chapter one St Paul writes to the Romans: Please don’t misinterpret my failure to visit you, friends. You have no idea how many times I’ve made plans for Rome. I’ve been determined to get some personal enjoyment out of God’s work among you, as I have in so many other non-Jewish towns and communities.
Whoever said the Scriptural life had to be devoid of enjoyment, dull and dreary, even if devout?
Taking Pleasure in The Walk
If St. Paul was determined to get some personal enjoyment out of doing God’s work even as a leader and teacher, you’d better make sure you do the same in this very twenty-first century.
I have often joked with friends that God Himself is going to hold some of us accountable for the good times and exposure He had empowered us to enjoy (financially or geographically for instance –imagine shunning a trip to Mauritius because the hotel may be jam packed with tourists in bathing suits?) but which we omitted to take hold of in the name of religion.
Isn’t that the same reason why some can go to war in the name of religion?
I overheard someone protest the other day that there are no ‘Christian’ places to socialize and hang out in this city. And I thought to myself: “Yes, and there are no Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish places to socialize and hang out.”
Short of hibernating in an igloo or in make-believe world, interdependence is one thing that is guaranteed on Planet Earth. We’ve grown so accustomed to limiting our options of socializing (living, in fact) to only those of the same faith – as if there was a guarantee that those of the same faith would always hold dear the same Scriptural and social values as you hold dear.
Tolerance and Interdependence
St Paul buttresses this point in the same chapter verses fourteen and fifteen when he wrote: “Everyone I meet – it matters little whether they’re mannered or rude, smart or simple – deepens my sense of interdependence and obligation.” That spoke volumes to me – I could be as much in need of the company of my simple Christian friend, as I am of the company and friendship of a smart Jewish friend. And, I could, and should even legitimately choose to socialize with the latter.
The cry of humanity - interdependence and obligation
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
The Audacity of Hope
It's Super Wednesday. The morning after Super Tuesday, and America has voted. As we wait for the results of the voting in the primaries, I am impatient with hope.
A Tribe Called Quest
Remember the song they did years, years back called Can I Kick It? And the chorus rhymed in response: "Yes you can!". Well, Barack Obama and his supporters are also rhyming "Yes we can!" Here it is - their absolutely, positively, awesome clip of hope and the coming glory.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3374
A Tribe Called Quest
Remember the song they did years, years back called Can I Kick It? And the chorus rhymed in response: "Yes you can!". Well, Barack Obama and his supporters are also rhyming "Yes we can!" Here it is - their absolutely, positively, awesome clip of hope and the coming glory.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3374
Sunday, 3 February 2008
On Football and Religion
Two things you should never discuss, right? Well, this is Ghana and the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament is ongoing.
I never realized I had a hint of patriotism nor any affection for the game in me until I began to notice that every other car that drove past me in this city had a Ghanaian flag clipped on to its window.
Driven by this passion for football and country, I bought my own Nigerian flag and clipped it to my car window. Each time I saw another car in town with a Nigerian flag on it, I hooted, and hooted and hooted them down. It got even better.
I bought one of the Nigerian football jerseys (No. 10 – Mikel Obi – not that I knew who he was, mind…) to wear for the Nigeria matches, and also bought a funky, funky, cute little girly top with ‘Nigeria Rocks’ written all over it in green and white, for the Friday and Saturday nights out.
Patriotism or madness? Call it what you like.
Then Nigeria team qualified for the quarter finals – only to meet Ghana.
Aware of the risk of being deported if I cheered Nigeria on too much, I thought: ‘you know what? This babe is proudly Nigerian,’ and support Nigeria I did.
In the midst of the one thousand and one Ghana t-shirts and fans, I went to the Fan Park today for the quarter finals match with Ghana - wearing my No. 10 Nigerian jersey.
Well, the game is up now and our national football team lost. But I remain proudly Nigerian. - not least for watching our team cuddled together, praying, during half time.
Know yea all men that the Super Eagles will yet rise. And they will fly. Very high!
God is still Nigeria’s God.
Roll on South Africa 2010. Go Nigeria!
I never realized I had a hint of patriotism nor any affection for the game in me until I began to notice that every other car that drove past me in this city had a Ghanaian flag clipped on to its window.
Driven by this passion for football and country, I bought my own Nigerian flag and clipped it to my car window. Each time I saw another car in town with a Nigerian flag on it, I hooted, and hooted and hooted them down. It got even better.
I bought one of the Nigerian football jerseys (No. 10 – Mikel Obi – not that I knew who he was, mind…) to wear for the Nigeria matches, and also bought a funky, funky, cute little girly top with ‘Nigeria Rocks’ written all over it in green and white, for the Friday and Saturday nights out.
Patriotism or madness? Call it what you like.
Then Nigeria team qualified for the quarter finals – only to meet Ghana.
Aware of the risk of being deported if I cheered Nigeria on too much, I thought: ‘you know what? This babe is proudly Nigerian,’ and support Nigeria I did.
In the midst of the one thousand and one Ghana t-shirts and fans, I went to the Fan Park today for the quarter finals match with Ghana - wearing my No. 10 Nigerian jersey.
Well, the game is up now and our national football team lost. But I remain proudly Nigerian. - not least for watching our team cuddled together, praying, during half time.
Know yea all men that the Super Eagles will yet rise. And they will fly. Very high!
God is still Nigeria’s God.
Roll on South Africa 2010. Go Nigeria!
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
The Race and Gender to the White House
I am currently reading through Speeches That Changed the World (compiled by Simon Sebag Montefiore). This morning I read speeches from four and five decades ago by Dr Martin Luther, President J F Kennedy, and Shirley Chisholm (all Americans from ages past). And I am thinking today America is at yet another crossroad.
As we watch the drama unfold in the primaries and the race to the White House, I realize that much of what these two men and this woman stood for in the 1960's are still being tested in today’s America and I wonder how America will decide.
Many have predicted that the Democratic Party has planned to lose this year’s Presidential elections because they are principally fielding a white woman and a black man. Their prediction is based on the premise that traditional America is not ready for a female President and neither is she ready for a black President. We live to learn.
Starting with Shirley Chisholm
In an address to the House of Representatives in May 1969, Shirley Chisholm, the first black Congress woman, highlighted and spoke impassionedly on the necessity of improving the lot of the socially disadvantaged, including women. “It is obvious that discrimination exists,’’ she said. “Women do not have the opportunities that men do. And women that do not conform to the system, who try to break with the accepted patterns, are stigmatized as ‘odd’ and ‘unfeminine’. The fact is that a woman who aspires to be chairman of the board, or a Member of the House, does so for exactly the same reason as any man. Basically, these are that she thinks she can do the job and she wants to try.”
Shirley Chisholm sponsored the Equal Rights Amendment, which would guarantee equal rights for all regardless of colour or gender, through Congress. She also competed for the nomination as the Democratic Presidential candidate in 1972. She was unsuccessful. Her race and her gender no doubt played a role.
Ironically Mrs Clinton’s bid to the White House perhaps is enabled by the Equal Rights Amendment. Who knows if the prejudices of the human mind and mindset, which any statute cannot conquer, will stop her from reaching the White House – simply because of her gender.
I have a dream
And then I read that most famous speech. That great and mighty civil rights crusader, Dr Martin Luther King, said in August 1963, “ I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal”.
Dr King went on in the same speech: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today…..this is our hope”
This could yet be America’s greatest test. Barack Obama’s finest hour - buttressing his audacity of hope.
A new generation of Americans
At his inaugural address in 1961, JFK said: “Let word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans – born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage – and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.”
He closed his inaugural speech with these words:
“Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
History the final judge of our deeds.
JFK led America on the ticket of hope and change. Both Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton ride on the winds that cry out for change.
America is indeed at a crossroads. And the legacy, the ideals and the struggles of JFK, Shirley Chisholm and Dr Martin Luther King stand yet still to be tested.
And yet all men are created equal.
As we watch the drama unfold in the primaries and the race to the White House, I realize that much of what these two men and this woman stood for in the 1960's are still being tested in today’s America and I wonder how America will decide.
Many have predicted that the Democratic Party has planned to lose this year’s Presidential elections because they are principally fielding a white woman and a black man. Their prediction is based on the premise that traditional America is not ready for a female President and neither is she ready for a black President. We live to learn.
Starting with Shirley Chisholm
In an address to the House of Representatives in May 1969, Shirley Chisholm, the first black Congress woman, highlighted and spoke impassionedly on the necessity of improving the lot of the socially disadvantaged, including women. “It is obvious that discrimination exists,’’ she said. “Women do not have the opportunities that men do. And women that do not conform to the system, who try to break with the accepted patterns, are stigmatized as ‘odd’ and ‘unfeminine’. The fact is that a woman who aspires to be chairman of the board, or a Member of the House, does so for exactly the same reason as any man. Basically, these are that she thinks she can do the job and she wants to try.”
Shirley Chisholm sponsored the Equal Rights Amendment, which would guarantee equal rights for all regardless of colour or gender, through Congress. She also competed for the nomination as the Democratic Presidential candidate in 1972. She was unsuccessful. Her race and her gender no doubt played a role.
Ironically Mrs Clinton’s bid to the White House perhaps is enabled by the Equal Rights Amendment. Who knows if the prejudices of the human mind and mindset, which any statute cannot conquer, will stop her from reaching the White House – simply because of her gender.
I have a dream
And then I read that most famous speech. That great and mighty civil rights crusader, Dr Martin Luther King, said in August 1963, “ I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal”.
Dr King went on in the same speech: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today…..this is our hope”
This could yet be America’s greatest test. Barack Obama’s finest hour - buttressing his audacity of hope.
A new generation of Americans
At his inaugural address in 1961, JFK said: “Let word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans – born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage – and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.”
He closed his inaugural speech with these words:
“Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
History the final judge of our deeds.
JFK led America on the ticket of hope and change. Both Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton ride on the winds that cry out for change.
America is indeed at a crossroads. And the legacy, the ideals and the struggles of JFK, Shirley Chisholm and Dr Martin Luther King stand yet still to be tested.
And yet all men are created equal.
Monday, 14 January 2008
The Whole Nine Yards
I’ve been teasing a friend of mine of late. Charming individual that he is, I’ve told him several times that were he still single, I’d literally order my younger sister to pack up and relocate here in Ghana. We had recently caught up quite by chance after some five years of absence. So thrilled have I been about his level of insight, joie de vivre, ambition and level of spirituality, that I even telephoned my younger sister in London to tell her about him.
We had a conversation of late that really got me reflecting on the G-factor (that is, the God factor) in each of our every day lives.
A number of exciting, lucrative business and career opportunities are on his plate, and, the great thing about them is, they have literally come to his plate effortlessly. And the key word there is effortlessly.
We discussed the greatness of the absolute mercy of God, and how when He decides it’s your turn for a blessing, well, it your turn o, as we say here in Ghana.
Suddenly you make contact with people who you know you were just fated to meet; you have a business meeting with a financier which leaves you with goose pimples, you are awarded a significant contract which you know you did not give your utmost attention to... the list goes on.
I had one such similar experience late last year. Like joke, like joke (I’m going local today with all my west African clichés...) I thought to make a particular investment and, like joke like joke all things worked out seamlessly, effortlessly and all so very easily. Note - I had been seeking to make the same investment for the past three years and on each and every occasion, it fell through, and I lost a whole lot of cash.
As I talked to my friend, the word from Jeremiah 17 verse 7 kept ringing in my head: blessed is the man who trusts in The Lord, whose hope The Lord is.
We settled on the merits of staying with Him now and forever more, for He is the whole nine yards.
We had a conversation of late that really got me reflecting on the G-factor (that is, the God factor) in each of our every day lives.
A number of exciting, lucrative business and career opportunities are on his plate, and, the great thing about them is, they have literally come to his plate effortlessly. And the key word there is effortlessly.
We discussed the greatness of the absolute mercy of God, and how when He decides it’s your turn for a blessing, well, it your turn o, as we say here in Ghana.
Suddenly you make contact with people who you know you were just fated to meet; you have a business meeting with a financier which leaves you with goose pimples, you are awarded a significant contract which you know you did not give your utmost attention to... the list goes on.
I had one such similar experience late last year. Like joke, like joke (I’m going local today with all my west African clichés...) I thought to make a particular investment and, like joke like joke all things worked out seamlessly, effortlessly and all so very easily. Note - I had been seeking to make the same investment for the past three years and on each and every occasion, it fell through, and I lost a whole lot of cash.
As I talked to my friend, the word from Jeremiah 17 verse 7 kept ringing in my head: blessed is the man who trusts in The Lord, whose hope The Lord is.
We settled on the merits of staying with Him now and forever more, for He is the whole nine yards.
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